Eternal Flame
by Ztarlight
Summary: When Gaz runs away from home, it takes a near-fatal mistake for her to realize that someone does care. ZAGR ahead! ^-^


(ARRRRRRGGHHHHH!!! [looks up] Oh! I mean... HIYA! Now, back to ARRRGGHH!! I'm sorry, but do you have any idea how hard it is to write a decent   
ZAGR fic without making everbody go too OOC? For those of you who have read my other ZAGR fic, this one's going to be...different, to say the least.   
It's going to be one of those serious, sappy things, so if you don't like, GO AWAY!! And I realize that I'm probably going a little OOC with this, so you don't   
have to tell me in your reviews. Flames will be laughed at for their stupidness, then used to heat my coffe pot. Yummy. Disclaimer applies [as always.]   
Goes with the song "Eternal Flame" by the Bengals. Now please, read, review, and enjoy...[I hope.]  
  
  
  
Eternal Flame  
  
  
Outside, the rain continued to pour.  
  
Dib glanced worriedly at the clock which had just begun to chime the twentieth hour of the day. "It's eight o'clock," he noted, "and she's STILL not back...  
dammit Gaz, where ARE you?"  
  
Dib sighed heavily and leaned back into the couch's large, puffy cushions. "Mysterious Mysterious" was on, and yet he couldn't seem to get his heart fully into  
it - and he knew why, too.  
  
It was because Gaz was missing.  
  
After skool that day, Dib had ended taking the bus by himself, thinking she had decided to walk. About half an hour after he got home, Gaz stormed in,   
grabbed a few things from her room, and taken off, mumbling something about, "...I've had enough of this bull..."  
  
Dib hadn't thought too much of it, because in the past, she had always returned after a few hours. But now there was a huge storm raging outside.   
  
(And Gaz is in the middle of it...) Dib thought.  
  
It was a sudden thing, really. Just 45 minutes ago, there was a perfectly star-lit sky. Then the clouds flew in like you wouldn't believe, and now thunder could  
be heard rumbling off into the distance. (That's it...) he thought.  
  
(I've got to go look for her.)  
  
With a determined look, Dib jumped off the couch and ran upstairs. It wasn't going to be easy in such a big city, but he had to at least try. There was too   
much that could happen to a girl her age - and Dib wasn't about to just let it happen. True, it didn't seem that Dib cared for Gaz too much, but tonight...  
  
He let it show.  
  
  
  
She had stood in the rain for a while until she got tired of getting wet. Now, she sat alone underneath the gazebo.  
  
(Alone...always alone...Well, soon that will cease to be.)  
  
Gaz gripped her wrists with uncertainity. God, it hurt her just to think about it. She squeezed her eyes shut and tightly gripped the skull pendant handing from   
her neck, and she relaxed a bit.  
  
It was a gift from her mother. Gaz had eyed it in a little shop one day when she was four. For some reason, it was the cutest thing she ever saw, but she never  
asked for it; just admired it from afar.  
  
Then one day, Gaz found a black box on her bed. Inside was the necklace. "You knew..." she had whispered in awe to her mom.  
  
Of course. She had always knew. (And she still does...) Gaz thought, a sad smile on her face. "You know I'm alone, Mom...but don't worry. It won't be much  
longer...now..." Gaz took a deep breath and reached into her back pack...  
  
She pressed the knife to her wrist...  
  
  
  
Zim ran, coughing and sputtering through the park. "Ignorant weather-man stink..." The paste coating was starting to wear off due to the rain being so heavy.  
" 'Not a cloud in the sky,' " he mocked. " 'A perfect evening for a walk in the park.' "  
  
Of course, when Gir heard that, he started screaming to go for a walk. After much pestering, Zim agreed, figuring he could kill two birds with one stone - Gir  
would get his exercise, and Zim could furher study the planet. But now Gir was nowhere to be found, and Zim was smoking beyond belief. Up ahead, he could  
see a faint light... a fire, coming from underneath the gazebo. (Perfect,) he thought. "A nice dry sanctuary. Gir's probably there."  
  
Zim walked down the grass hill between him and the gazebo. Upon arriving, he saw a figure sitting on the bench. It took him a moment for his eyes to adjust to  
the light, but when he did he recognized who it was. "G...Gaz?" he asked slowly.  
  
Gaz yelped in surprise and spun around quickly, causing the knife to fly from her hand. It clattered along the ground, stopping at Zim's feet. He looked down,   
wide-eyed, and then looked up at her. "Gaz...were you...?" he didn't dare finish.  
  
Gaz dropped her head in shame. "Yes, I...I was..."  
  
"I don't understand why you would, though...."  
  
Gaz sighed in annoyance, as if it were fairly obvious. "Because, Zim, I don't want to be alone anymore."  
  
Zim raised an eyebrow in question. "Alone? There are millions of you stinkbeasts littering this miserable planet! How could you possibly be alone?"  
  
Gaz thought for a moment. "I don't know how to answer that, Zim. It's something that needs to be understood, not explained."  
  
"How...do I understand?"  
  
Gaz smiled at his child-like curiosity. "Give me your hand, Zim."  
  
  
/Close your eyes, give me your hand, Darling/  
/Do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand?/  
/Do you feel the same?/  
/Am I only dreaming,/  
/Or is this burning an eternal flame?/  
  
  
Slowly, Zim reached out and let Gaz take his hand. To his surprise, it was cold.  
  
Zim gripped her hand lsightly. "Gaz...your hands are freezing!"  
  
Gaz shrugged. "I'm a cold person, anyway."  
  
Zim gazed solemly into her eyes. "....I don't think you're cold."  
  
  
/I believe it's meant to be, Darling/  
/I watch you when you are sleeping, you belong with me./  
/Do you feel the same?/  
/Am I only dreaming,/  
/Or is this burning an eternal flame?/  
  
  
Gaz replied with a sad smile. "You don't mean that..."  
  
"Yes, I do. You're different from most of those other human females. In fact, you're different from ALL of the other humans that I've met. You have sense, you  
have courage, and most of all...you have warmth. And Gaz, I...I..." Zim stumbled for words.  
  
Gaz glanced up at him. "What? You what?"  
  
"Gaz, I don't really know how to say this but, I..." Zim knelt down to look her in the eye. "I love you, Gaz..."  
  
Gaz widened her eyes, and her lips moved slightly. "Zim..." she whispered.  
  
  
/Say my name/   
/Sun shines through the rain/  
/My whole life, so lonely/   
/Then you come and ease the pain/  
/I don't want to lose this feeling/  
/Ohhhhhhhh.../  
  
  
Zim stood there in complete shock. Did he actually say that to her?  
  
Gaz sat there in complete silence for what seemed like an eternity. "Do you...really, Zim?"  
  
Zim bit his lip. "Y-yes, I really do...Gaz."  
  
Gaz started feeling a little hopeful. "Wow...I don't know what to say,...except..." She took a deep breath. "I love you too, Zim..."  
  
Zim sat down next to her. The next thing Gaz knew he had grabbed her and was now pressing his lips to hers. She threw her arms around him and returned   
the kiss with all the love she could give. The sound of the rain could be heard getting lighter.  
  
  
/Say my name/  
/Sun shines through the rain/  
/My whole life, so lonely/  
/Then you come and ease the pain/  
/I don't want to lose this feeling/  
/Ohhh.../  
  
  
Gaz broke the kiss and rested her head on Zim's shoulder. "Thank you, Zim..."  
  
Zim hugged her a little tighter. "Y...You're welcome, but...for what?"  
  
"For making me remember that I have something to live for."  
  
  
/Close your eyes, give me your hand, Darling/  
/Do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand?/  
/Do you feel the same?/  
/Am I only dreaming,/  
/Or is this burning an eternal flaaaaaaaaaaaaame...?/  
  
  
Zim watched the shadows cast by the fire flicker around them. "The fire is nice..."  
  
Gaz yawned. "It...sure is..." she said sleepily.  
  
"...I wonder how long it will last?"  
  
"I don't know," Gaz said, snuggling a little closer to Zim, "but I hope our fire burns for a long time..."  
  
"Huh? Gaz, what does that---" but by now, Gaz had fallen asleep in Zim's embrace. Zim smiled at her, then he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He  
turned his head to see a tiny green puppy smiling up at him.  
  
"Gir? Where were you?!"  
  
"Under there." Gir pointed over to a bench opposite of where Zim and Gaz were.  
  
Zim's cheeks turned red. "So...you saw what happened?"  
  
"Uh-huh." Gir nodded rapidly. "It was so CUTE!! Master's got a girlfriend." He leaned over Gaz. "And such a pretty one, too..."  
  
"Uh...right, Gir." Zim looked down at the sleeping form of Gaz in his arms. "It's a good thing the rain stopped. Now I can get her home."  
  
  
  
Dib leaned on a tree to catch his breath. He'd been looking for Gaz for nearly an hour now, and he hadn't found even the slightest clue as to where she could  
be. Up ahead, he could make out a sillouhette of a person carrying a body - a body that looked like Gaz's!  
  
"Gaz!" he cried and ran up ahead. "Are you--Zim?!" Dib looked from Gaz to Zim. "What did you do to her?!"  
  
"Shut your noise tube, human! Before you start accusing me of ANYTHING, she fell asleep. And second, the only thing I did was save her life." Zim passed  
Gaz's body to Dib. "I'm sure she'll tell you all about it when she wakes up." Zim turned around and headed for his house.  
  
Dib watched Zim's form grow smaller and smaller, and then turned around to bring Gaz home. It wasn't too long before he ehard a clanging on the sidewalk  
behind him. He turned around to see a knife reflecting the streetlight. Then he hoticed that Gaz's backpack was open.  
  
Dib glanced down in fear at his sister and noticed that her right wrist was scratched. "Gaz...you..." He looked up to Zim, but he was already gone. Dib was  
shocked, to say the least. He continued to look at Gaz with a disbelieving expression. Then he glanced up in Zim's direction. He whispered:  
  
"Thank you, Zim."  



End file.
